By: OrePulse

Abu Dhabi-based AD Ports Group reported a 73 percent jump in third-quarter net profit, crediting cargo rerouted through two of its eastern terminals for cushioning the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping.

AD Ports told the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange that net profit attributable to its owners for the quarter ended September 30 stood at Dh767 million ($209 million). The company linked the increase mainly to what it described as alternative multimodal trade routes it had developed across the UAE since March.

"Continuity measures implemented since March include the rerouting of cargo operations and feeder shipping services, the deployment of new land and air bridges, and the establishment of additional warehousing and storage facilities," the company said in its statement. Fujairah Terminals and Khor Fakkan Port, the two facilities named, sit on the UAE's eastern seaboard, outside the strait. AD Ports said the measures were designed to "mitigate the negative effects of regional disruptions on UAE operations, especially in the shipping business."

Group revenue for the quarter climbed 48 percent from a year earlier to just under Dh8 billion, which AD Ports attributed to "double-digit top-line growth across the four core business clusters" that make up the group.

Maritime and shipping remained the largest of those clusters, bringing in Dh4.74 billion, up 56 percent and equal to roughly 58 percent of total group revenue. The logistics cluster followed with Dh1.96 billion, a 76 percent increase from the same quarter last year.

The ports cluster generated Dh798 million, 12 percent higher than a year earlier. AD Ports said quarterly container throughput across its UAE terminals rose 30 percent compared with the second quarter of 2026, though volumes remained 57 percent below the level recorded in the third quarter of 2025. The economic cities and free zones cluster contributed Dh690 million, up 15 percent.

AD Ports said the rerouting was necessitated by the Strait of Hormuz, a corridor for Gulf oil and container traffic, having been effectively closed to commercial vessels since an armed conflict between the United States and Iran began in late February. Efforts to restore shipping through the waterway had not succeeded by the time AD Ports released its results.

Afif Al Yafei, who took over last week as group chief executive of AD Ports Group, said in the statement that the company had "achieved record results during Q3, a testimony to the group's operational resilience."

AD Ports also said that Abu Dhabi's sovereign investment vehicle L'imad had put forward a cash offer, made on a voluntary basis, under which it could end up owning the entire company. The move is intended to shift the port operator from public listing to full private ownership and take it off the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares currently trade. The statement did not set out a timetable for completing the offer.

The quarter marked the first set of results presented under Al Yafei's leadership since his appointment, and came as each of the group's four business clusters posted double-digit revenue growth despite the continued disruption to shipping traffic through the strait. AD Ports said the combination of rerouted cargo at its eastern terminals and the additional land, air and warehousing capacity added since March had allowed it to keep serving customers whose shipments would otherwise have moved through Hormuz.

AD Ports reported the figures in UAE dirhams, converting the quarterly net profit figure to $209 million in its statement. The Dh767 million profit figure and the 73 percent year-on-year increase both refer to net profit attributable to the company's owners for the three months, rather than to gross or operating profit.